I always thought the issue of neutrality on the Internet was one of extremes.
I thought this because no one I’ve ever met is neutral on the issue you’re either for a free, open web, or you support the ISPs accepting pay for superior service. No in-betweens.
But then, on Monday night at saveournet’s Open Internet forum at the Gladstone, came a new stance: the off-topic, finger-wagging, politicizing, self-aggrandizing middle ground.
This was courtesy of Jesse Brown, the self-styled humourist behind the TVO program Search Engine.
He weighed in on the issue saying publications like NOW Magazine are alienating people from the web freedom issue because it’s so “far left.”
I asked Brown what he meant by this, but he’s taken an extended lunch break, it seems. So, with him making the accusatory remarks then skipping town, I’m forced to come up with the following theories:
1) He erroneously thought NOW, a media partner, booked the panelists on the discussion that night. It didn’t
Or,
2) He’s read NOW coverage on the issue and somehow thinks it has dragged the discussion into a political realm, which he opposes.
Until he emerges from his shell, I won’t know exactly what he meant.
Regardless!
I, for one, would love to hear what the other side – those who support giving ISPs more control – thinks on this issue. The majority of times, forums such as this are preaching to the converted. Everyone in the room – and in their right mind, in my opinion – agrees the Internet should remain an egalitarian network, where every site has equal access to users.
But what does the pro-throttling group think? What are their arguments?
Well, dude, we just don’t know. While pro-neutrality advocates scream and shout, the throttlers are generally silent (aside from the occasional dumb “dumb pipe” comments).
Could it be Brown, in an attempt to distinguish himself from the chorus of saveournet support, decided to start pointing fingers within the neutral camp?
If anyone’s confusing the issue and making it harder for the unitiated to participate in, it’s him. Blaming is no way to invite the greater public into a debate.
But he’s discrediting the points made by those in the debate – NOW wasn’t the only target here – by assigning a political value to them – essentially saying, “of course you think a certain way, you’re a left wing zealot!”
Demeaning, at best.
The last thing net neutrality issue needs is a gatekeeper deciding which people can weigh in. Like the Internet, the net neutrality debate should be free for all to join in.
